Challenging Fate
by Kiyoshi Rouga
Summary: There are many people who say that you cannot change your fate. That you cannot change your destiny. A normal mission turns into a battle to save the world as we know it and its in the hands of a Plegian woman who lost her memory and a Ylissian Prince with his army.
1. Chapter 1

AN: …Soo… this awkward. This is the first time I've been back here since I tried to write an Acchi Kochi fan fiction. First off, I haven't written anything in years. Like literal years. It's a bit weird being back here. Second, any pairings are going to based off my first playthrough of Awakening. I just want to let you all know where I'm getting these pairings from. I'm aware that there are better than what I did, but that's what I'm doing. Third, I will be throwing in my own characters (meaning I'll be adding my own paralogues for some characters) and slightly changing the personalities of other characters during specific situations. And finally, I will be basing everyone's classes off my first playthrough of Awakening as well. This includes switching between multiple different classes.

I'm always open to constructive criticism and I will be actively editing this story as much as I can, so if you see that a chapter seems different, that probably means I revised it. I will not be giving any hints on any pairings that will be in this story, aside from Female Robin x Chrom. Also, Robin's name will be staying the same. No real reason, I'm just bad at coming up with names… even though I will be making up extra characters.

Before we start, throwing out a huge thank you to Sammie Writes for her story "Embers." It was the story that inspired me to start writing again. So, if you see this story Sammie, THANK YOU!

Now let's get started!

* * *

Every single time I see them clash; I can't help but feel scared. While I stand, watching with one of my arms wrapped around my tome and the other at the ready, I couldn't help but feel scared for him. The blue-haired man in front of me is fighting a tall man with sickly gray skin. Every time he slashes his sword, the tall man deflects it with magic. Despite how different their builds are, they seem to be about equal speed.

He makes it look easy, but I can tell that he is struggling. The injury he received that night is starting to slow him down ever so slightly and it makes me scared. I wanted to tell him, yell at him, to pull back and we'll try again later when he's at full strength, but we both know that that isn't an option. We fall back now, and its over for everyone. We would be letting our fallen comrades down, and I'm not about to let them down again.

Yellow sparks started to flare from my free hand as I ready myself, keeping my eyes trained on the tall, lanky man. The man fired another spell at my comrade before completely disappearing from my vision, dodging another swing of his sword.

"Up there!" the blue haired man yelled.

My eyes snapped to look at the sickly skinned man above me to see that he already has a spell ready, aimed at the man in blue. He throws the blast down and the force throws me off my feet. I snap my tome open and aim my hand at the ceiling, toward the tall man. The spell, Thoron, launches from my hand and sails through the air. Unfortunately, the spell only hit the ceiling as the man had teleported away.

I landed on the arm that was holding the tome and quickly got myself to feet to see blue electricity slam the blue-haired man into the wall. My heart begins to race. 'He's okay,' I tell myself, 'he's okay.' The dust settled and the blue-haired man pulls himself to his knees, propping himself on his sword. Bruises and light cuts are visible along his exposed skin; but he's alive and unharmed. That's all that matters to me.

Electricity buzzes in my ears; the sickly skinned tall man in robes was holding one of his arms in the air, levitating a ball of electricity. The man throws the spell in the direction of the blue-haired man. I fire off another Thoron, this time aimed at the ball of electricity.

A bright light filled the room when the two spells collided. The tall man and I glare at each other as the light die down. This man. This _accursed _man. He has been the main cause of all our misfortunes. There was so much blood on his hands… but it's also on mine too. My plans kept failing, there were too many enemies that I didn't account for… and it caused too many of my comrades to fall.

There had been times when I wondered if… I should just disappear. Maybe I shouldn't have ever met the blue-haired man and his comrades. Maybe-

I feel someone squeezing my shoulder. It's the man in blue, sword at the ready. "You're one of us," the man says, with both comfort and conviction. I turn to look at him. There it was. The expression that made him see unbreakable. "No 'destiny' can change that."

There was a reason why he's the one that's been keeping me sane as of late. He was so confident and kind, that any doubt that I had just disappeared. A confident expression formed on my face, mirroring his. "Right," I say as I nod.

"Destiny is destiny," the hood man shouts. "There's no point in trying to escape what has been written!"

I give the sickly skinned man another glare. I don't care if its my destiny. If that's the case, then I'll change that destiny with my own two hands.

The blue-haired man broke into a full sprint, sword ready to strike as I follow behind him. They clash once again, just like they did before. I already have another Thoron sparking in my free hand, as I watch the two fight. The moment I saw the lanky man falter, I let the spell fly.

As if reading my mind, the blue-haired man stepped out of the way, letting the spell hit the tall man in the chest. He then followed up with final slash that sent the tall man backward. Black and purple flames surrounded his body as he dropped to his knees. Then he collapsed, falling face first on the ground.

As the blue-haired man turns to look at me and smiles, only one thought is currently going through my head: we did it. We won. I couldn't help, but return his smile, almost giving a small giggle.

"This isn't over."

I hear the sickly man's ragged voice. My heart sinks. I look at the man, seeing him propped up on one hand. His extends the other hand towards us. "DAMN YOU _**BOTH**_!"

No time to think. Just go.

I push the blue-haired man out of the way with as much strength as my arms can muster. He looks at me scared and confused as he saw what I just did. I feel a heavy impact and my vision goes white. I feel my body blown back, as a searing pain makes itself known. The pain starts from my chest and then extends to the rest of my torso. My back hits the ground, adding more pain to what I'm already feeling.

Everything is throbbing and sore, my head feels fuzzy, and my chest becomes sore from breathing. I hear the man in blue shout my name and everything comes back to me at once. Our goals, our hopes, our dreams, and how we got here. I need to breath. I need to ignore the pain in my chest and get air. Breath.

The blue-haired man runs to me as my vision returns. He drops to his knees and then sits me up by wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "You all right?" he asks, concern clear in his voice. I'm breathing so hard that I can't get my voice to come out, so I just nod. He sighs in relief as he looks at the tall man disintegrating into a black and purple haze. "That's the end of him… thanks to you, we carry the day."

I couldn't hold back my smi-

**PAIN**.

My head. My head… it feels like someone is squeezing it. I barely notice that my comrade helps me to my feet. "We can rest easy now," says the man, his voice sounding distant and muffled, "at long last."

My headache is overwriting everything that I'm hearing. Everything that I'm feel. I… I need help… I need help.

"What's wrong?" the man asks, seeing the pain on my face. I can't answer due to the pain. I can see him pain. "Hey, hang on- "

Suddenly, the pain is gone. What happened? The man's hands left my shoulders and takes a shaky step away from. I turn to look at him. My heart stops. There a large volt of yellow electricity in his abdomen. Its already bleeding.

No… no no no no.

We're the only two here… please don't tell me.

I look down at my hand to see traces of electricity leaving my hand. My eyes widen in terror.

"No…" I shake my head in denial as I feel my tears still to fall. "No… no… _please not you!_"

He's one of the only things I have left in this world… one of the few things left that keeps me sane.

The man steps forward with his unsteady legs and wipes a tear away. "This is not your- your fault…"

No… _NO_!

"Promise me… you'll escape from this place… Please… go…"

_NO! DON'T LEAVE ME! PLEASE!_

He drops to the floor, unmoving as blood begins to pool out. I back away, in shock, before my legs give out. I fall to the ground, my sobs increasing in intensity as what I've done keeps weighing and weighing on me.

The sorcerer's cackling fills the room. I feel my shoulders shake and a smile form… what's… happening. I start to laugh as I feel euphoria. Euphoria I haven't felt in years!

This entire world. _**WILL BURN BY MY HANDS!**_

* * *

This will probably be the only chapter that I'll write in first person… I feel that its only appropriate for this first chapter. I also usually don't write in first person, so if things seem a bit off, than that's probably why. Holy shit, I had to watch the first cutscene of the game repeatedly, along with having the actual script of the game open as well. I'm going to hope this is a good first chapter. Anyways, thank you all for reading and thank you for any bits of constructive criticism that you guys and girls can give me. See you all next time I make and update to this!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into? Writing a story while I have a FFXIV addiction and I'm trying to keep up with the gachas that I play (Fate Grand/Order NA and JP, Honkai Impact 3rd, Azur Lane, and Touhou Cannonball). Not to mention that the Iceborne expansion of Monster Hunter World releases tomorrow on PC at the time of me writing this… little too late now lol.

So, a couple of things I didn't mention in the last chapter; I have decided to include some of the Xenologues here and there. I don't know if I'll do all of them or not, still deciding on that one. Some of the characters that I'm making will probably end up referencing FFXIV a bit. Nothing too crazy though. I'm not going to make Dark Knights in FE into Dark Knights from FFXIV. For example, there will be a character that acts like the bard. The Bard in FFXIV is an archer that can play songs to buff the other members of your party and I intend to put something of the sort in here. I may reference other classes like white mage, black mage, and red mage. Still figuring that part out.

That's all! See you all at the end note.

* * *

If only Chrom could have more days like today. Days where could take a nice stroll in a grassy field, where he could feel with wind on his face, and look at the boundless blue sky. If only. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to have those days for a while. Especially with the tension between Plegia and Ylisse.

"Chrom, why did you bother to bring a horse if you weren't going to ride her?" Lissa asked, annoyed due to her aching feet.

Of course, Lissa, a blonde girl with green eyes, was the only one to complain. Even though she was turning sixteen in about a month, she acted childish at times. Some were annoyed by it, while others said it was part of her charm.

"Walking is a good way to build character, milady," Frederick replied, chuckling at the small, exasperated girl.

Frederick, the brown-haired man wearing a full suit of armor, followed the two at a reasonable safe distance… which meant that he was only a couple of meters away. He response earned him a groan from Lissa.

"Frederick is right, Lissa," Chrom said, "a little walking would be good for you. Although, I'm not entirely sure on how it builds character."

Chrom was a nineteen-year-old man with shaggy blue hair and a muscular build. One look at him would tell you that he doesn't know much about fashion. He wore a blue one-piece suit that only had a left sleeve, leaving his right arm, which had a mark on it, bare. He also wore a cape to accompany his suit.

Lissa gave her brother a deadpan look as she sighed. She knew they were right, doesn't mean that she had to like it. The mare was already carrying a lot of items, including her healing staff and medical supplies. She didn't want to put any more weight on her, but at the same time she felt like her legs were going to fall off.

"In all honestly, you should've expected this when you became part of the Shepherds, milady," Frederick noted.

"I know Sir Let-Me-Clear-Everything-Out-Of-Your-Way-So-You-Don't-Trip," she said, giving another sigh. "You don't need to worry about every little thing. We aren't going to be hurt from tripping on something."

"M-Milady!" Frederick stuttered, clearly not amused by Lissa's new nickname for him.

Chrom couldn't help but chuckle at the two.

"I swear, you two argue like you're- "Chrom cut himself off.

He had stopped in his tracks. Lissa and Frederick stopped arguing to look at Chrom. He had a look of confusion and worry on his face. He was looking at something. They followed his gaze and saw why he suddenly stopped; there was a person lying face down in the grassy field.

"Lissa, get your staff," Chrom said before tearing off the path toward the person.

Lissa grabbed her healing staff from the mare and chased after her brother, while Frederick called for them both. When they both reached the body, Chrom turned it over so they could see its face. It was a woman that seemed to be around eighteen or nineteen, with fair skin and white hair. She had numerus cuts visible on her skin. Her attire seemed to suggest that she was from the desert. What seemed to stand out on her the most was the thick coat she was wearing; black with gold accents and three purple eyes that ran down the center of each sleeve. It seemed to cover her entire body. Her origin was painfully obvious to all, especially Frederick.

"Plegian robes," Frederick said.

Chrom looked behind him to see Frederick looking around cautiously, as Lissa healed the mysterious woman.

"This is almost certainly a trap," the armored man informed the siblings. "We must leave. _Now_."

Lissa shot Frederick with an offended glare. "Seriously Frederick," she huffed, "You really think they would be this obvious? Just because she's wearing the clothing of one, doesn't mean that she's a Plegian. "

"What of the mark on her hand?" Frederick countered. "Does that not mean anything?"

Chrom had noticed something on her hand but didn't notice it due to seeing the cuts. He looked at her hand and froze. A light purple, ethereal mark that rested on the back of the woman's right hand. He knew what it was, they all knew; the Mark of Grima, the fell dragon.

"Your point?" Lissa responded, firm with her resolve.

"Milady, it's blindingly obvious that she is one of the Grimleal," Frederick sighed, growing more frustrated.

"_And_? Just because they have the mark doesn't immediately always mean that they Grimleal. What if she isn't a Grimleal and they just put that mark on her? Besides, she was hurt."

"I highly doubt that they would just put the mark on a random person, milady. She's clearly part of the country that's been terrorizing out borders."

"Then why was she passed out on the ground here?"

"As I said, it's a Plegian tra- "

"Oh, for the love of- "Lissa cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted, "HEY, WE TOOK THE BAIT! IF YOU WANT TO ATTACK US YOU SHOULD DO IT NOW!"

Frederick tried to get Lissa to stop yelling Chrom just stared at them in disbelieve. This is why he always says that they argued like a married couple. He raised his hand to stop the two and fixed his gaze was on Lissa. "I'm willing to hear her out, but we should use caution." He then looked to Frederick. "Frederick, Lissa could be right. I know it doesn't seem likely, but what if she was forced into the Grimleal. She may be in this condition because she escaped from them."

"Chrom," Lissa stood up and looked at the woman, then up at her brother. "We have to do _something._"

"What do you propose we do?"

"I…I dunno…"

"Mmh…"

All three of them turned their attention to the woman. A set of hazel irises were shown when she opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and shook her head to try to remove her drowsiness.

"Hey there," Lissa said to the woman, giving her a warm smile.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know," Chrom joked before extending his hand to her. "Give me your hand."

The woman hesitated for a moment, before she slid her right hand into Chrom's. He pulled woman up and put his free hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. "You okay?"

He gave her a slight smile, making her realize how close she was to him. She released Chrom's hand and took a step back. The woman was at least a full head shorter than Chrom. Her hair fell to her mid-back.

"Yes…" she said with a hoarse voice, prompting her to clear her throat. "Thank you Chrom."

He gave her a smile. At least she knew him, so this may make this easier. "Ah, then you know me then?"

She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow as she started to think. She didn't know why she knew his name, but she couldn't just put her finger on it. "No actually…" she shook her head. "It's strange… it just came to me…"

It was fully possible that she wasn't Ylissian, then. She looked like she was getting steadily more confused the more she thought.

"Curious…" Chrom said, "Well anyway, could you tell me your name?"

"O-of course," said the woman. "My name is… it's… umm…"

She eyes widened. Giving your name should be something as natural as breathing and she knew that… however, when she tried to think of her name; nothing. Blank. As the realization hit her, she started to hug herself with one arm. She was desperately searching for a name; her name. It had to be there somewhere. "…You don't know your own name?" Chrom asked, watching her face change from confusion to panic.

"Oh, maybe you have amnesia!" Lissa stated.

"Or it's a load of Pegasus dung," Frederick accused, giving the woman a cold stare. "We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?"

"I-I know it sounds crazy," the woman stuttered, constantly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "But I'm telling the truth."

"Forgive me, but your words ring hollow," Frederick said, keeping his gaze on the woman. "Your so called 'amnesia' just reeks of suspicion."

"Frederick!" Lissa snapped, giving Frederick a glare.

"Milady; _think_ about this," Frederick said. "We have an unknown woman in Plegian garb with the Grimleal emblem on her hand out in the middle of a field. She doesn't know her own name, but she _somehow_ knows milord's name. Doesn't it give you some form of pause when you think about how suspicious this is? We cannot go any further without addressing this."

"What if she IS telling the truth, Frederick?" Chrom countered. "We can't just leave her here, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

Frederick sighed as looked back at the woman. Her brow was furrowed. If she was tricking them, then she had succeeded with both Chrom and Lissa. "All the same, milord," he said, "we must emphasize caution."

Chrom turned his attention back to the woman. She was staring at the Grimleal mark in confusion. She seemed to not have any idea what the mark on her hand meant or what her robes signified. "Right then – we'll take her back to town and sort this out there," he decided.

The woman's eye snapped open. "W-wait a moment," she said, panicked, "don't I have a say in this?"

Chrom couldn't help but chuckle at her. "Peace, friend," Chrom said, giving her a warm smile, "I promise we'll hear all that you say back in town."

The woman hesitated for a moment as she watched them walk back down the road. They could help or maybe help her find her family. Or she could be killed on the spot. With her current situation, she couldn't do much if she didn't go with them.

* * *

The woman decided to follow the three. She really didn't have too much of a choice. Either wonder aimlessly or follow them to hopefully a town. That doesn't mean that she had to be comfortable with it. She hid in her coat as she thought of all the things that could befall her. What was going to happen to her? The silence wasn't helping calm her fears in the slightest.

"What will you do with me?" she asked, stopping in her tracks. "Am I to be your prisoner?"

Chrom chuckled at this, causing the woman's face to flush red. "You'll be free to go once we establish that you're not an enemy of Ylisse," Chrom answered, giving her a comforting smile.

"Is that where we are? Ylisse?"

Chrom gave a nod. "This land is known as the Haildom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt," Chrom said.

"Does none of this sound familiar at all?" asked Lissa.

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry," she responded dejectedly.

Lissa gave her a smile. "Well, it'll come to you in time," Lissa reassured her.

The woman nodded and looked away. Chrom couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Here she was; a stranger with no memory of her past; scared and alone. Chrom was surprised that she didn't bolt after he asked her to follow them with how paranoid she looked.

"I suppose proper introductions are in order," said Chrom. "You already know this, but my name is Chrom. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa."

"I am NOT delicate!" Lissa shouted, shoving her brother for the insult. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. I don't ever want to think about what would have happened if brigands found you."

While Chrom rolled her eyes at the 'thick' comment, Robin looked at the siblings in confusion.

"Shepherds?" asked Robin, cocking her head to the side. "You tend to sheep?... In full armor?"

Another chuckle from Chrom caused the woman to blush again. Chrom seemed to be having to much fun confusing her, even if it was unintentional.

"It's a dangerous job," said Chrom, before turning his head to Frederick. "Just as Frederick the Wary here."

"A title I wear with pride," Frederick said with an obvious fake smile. It was clear he had to deal with teasing like this from the two daily. "Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution." He turned toward the woman, his cold glare from earlier gone. "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

It did make sense to her. She was a stranger who was wearing the garb of a country they obviously weren't fond of. "I understand, sir," she responded, giving Frederick a nod. "I would do no less myself." She looked off in the distance, staring at the blue sky. Her eyes seemed to widen in realization.

"Robin."

It was Chrom's turn to look confused. "Pardon?" Chrom asked.

"Its… my name," the woman said, joy clear in her voice. She was starting to beam. "It's Robin. It's strange, it just came to me."

Chrom cupped his chin with his hand. "Robin," Chrom repeated. It wasn't commonplace in Ylisse, but it was pleasant, nonetheless. "It sounds foreign. Anyways, we can discuss it later. We're almost to town. Once we- "

"Chrom, look!" Lissa yelled, pointing just ahead. "The town!"

Frederick, Chrom, and Robin looked in front of them to see a tall pillar of smoke billowing out form the town. Cries and screams of horror were being heard from the town. "Damn it!" Chrom shouted out. "Brigands, no doubt. Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!"

"What about her, milord?" Frederick gestured toward Robin.

"Unless she's on fire, it can wait!"

"Aptly put, milord."

Chrom tore off toward the town. Lissa ran to the mare and pulled her staff from the saddle bag. Frederick mounted the horse, pulling the blonde girl up behind him. The mare sprinted after Chrom.

"B-But…" Robin said weakly. She was already too late. They were long gone. "Hmm…"

* * *

Several bandits were running around the ruined town, trying to grab as many valuables as possible. Homes and shops were either destroyed or on fire. Some civilians had blocked their doors or ran from the town, while the others were either pillaged by the bandits. A few of the men in the town had taken up arms in retaliation, only to be met with little to no success.

A man was hunched over, holding a hand over a wound. He had been slashed in the shoulder. The culprit was standing above him, giving him a smirk. The bandit had an axe resting on his shoulder as he looked down at the man who dared to try to fight him. The bandit laughed as he raised the axe, about to bring it down on the man. The man looked up at the bandit in horror as the axe went higher and higher in the air.

Suddenly, the tip of a blade came through the bandit's chest, causing him to scream in agony. The blade then left the bandit's chest, making him fall to the ground. The man had gotten blood on his face from the bandit, but he wasn't worried about that at this moment. He was looking at the bandit's attacker; Chrom holding his blade, the Falchion.

"Milord!" the man yelled, shocked that he was even here.

Lissa knelt by the man and started to heal the wound. It was deep, but the man would live. They heard a woman scream, causing them to snap their heads to the direction of the scream. There was another was another bandit with a woman trapped by him. The second Chrom saw this, he immediately went into a full sprint towards the bandit. The bandit already had his sword raised, ready to cut the woman down.

'Damn it!" Chrom cursed at himself angrily as he desperately tried to make himself run faster, 'I'm not going to make it!'

A faint buzz filled his ears. The next thing he knew, the bandit was blindsided by a small yellow orb of lighting. The bandit nearly fell over as he held his side. Chrom took the opportunity to slash at the bandit, killing him. "Get somewhere safe, now!" Chrom ordered the woman, who responded with a nod.

As the woman ran off, Chrom turned in the direction that the orb came from and was surprised to see Robin there. She was panting heavily and clutching a yellow book with gold markings on the cover close to her chest, indicating that she was holding a thunder tome. "You followed us?" asked Chrom. "Why?"

"I just… felt like I needed to," Robin answered, still panting from running all the way there. She opened her coat to reveal that she also had a bronze sword on her along with a pouch that had some money in it. "Turns out I had more stuff on me than I thought."

"So you not only have a sword, but you have a tome and you know magic?" Chrom asked. "You are just filled with more and more surprises."

Chrom suddenly shoved Robin out of the way and blocked an incoming sword strike from a brigand with Falchion. He pushed the man back and then sprinted toward him with Robin right behind him. Their swords clanged against each other as they met, putting them in a deadlock. Chrom was stronger and faster than the bandit, pushing his enemy's blade away and slashing them across the chest with his own. A yellow volt of electricity followed, hitting the brigand square in the abdomen, causing a yell of pain to erupt from him as life escaped him.

"Their armor seems to really only protect their upper torso," Robin said, closing the tome. "A good hit to the abdomen or lower back would probably pierce through their armor."

Chrom cocked his head to the side. "How did you get all of that information with one look?"

It was Robin's turn to cock her head to the side. "Is it not obvious to you?"

Chrom shook his head. "You just keep getting more and more mysterious."

Robin blushed at this. Chrom turned his attention toward some of the burning residences in front of them. "First things first," he said, sheathing the Falchion, "We need to get these people out of there. Can I count on you to help them out?"

Robin gave Chrom a determined look and nodded. They parted ways there, running toward the burning buildings to save anyone they could. They checked as many residences as they could and pulled as many families as they could out of their burning homes, sending them out of the town afterward.

It turns out the Robin was right. The bandits weren't good fighters in the first place, but Chrom found that hitting them anywhere in the lower torso with his Falchion was making them drop like flies. The woman definitely had some sort of combat knowledge, he was quite sure of that. If anything; it was making him glad that she was on their side.

Robin and Chrom met back up after saving the people trapped in their houses. "They don't seem to be very good at fighting," Robin said, looking at the brigands Chrom had just felled with ease. "There's got to be a ringleader somewhere around here. We take him out and the others will probably surrender or leave."

"We should find Frederick first," said Chrom sheathing his sword. "The leader is probably going to be the strongest and he'll be our best chance at beating him."

Robin gave a nod. They ran through the town to find Frederick, which wasn't too hard. They just followed the trail of dead brigands and there he was. Conveniently, he was hiding close to where the leader happened to be. They looked at the leader and the men that surrounded him. There were five different men in front of him. Two of them were carrying swords, two of them were carrying axes, and one of them was carrying a green tome. The leader himself looked much more capable than his men; muscular build with a large axe in his right hand and a smaller axe hanging off of his hip.

"Frederick, I need you at take out the two men carrying axes and their leader," whispered Robin pointing at the three in the back. She then gestured to herself and Chrom. "Chrom and I will take out the two swordsmen and the mage. Attack them in their lower torso if possible. Their armor is weak there."

Frederick hesitated for a moment, before giving her a firm nod, agreeing with the plan.

"On my mark."

Frederick grip on his lance and shield tightened; Chrom placed his hand on Falchion; both were ready for the signal. Robin lifted her free hand and pointed it at the mage. Yellow runes surrounded her hand as a page began to burn away from the tome. "_Now_!"

The volt of electricity flew from her hand toward the mage, hitting him square in the chest. Frederick's mare jumped out of their hiding spot and charged toward the men with Chrom not far behind. The swordsmen tried to stop him by slashing him as he went by only to be deflected by Frederick's shield. Chrom took the opportunity to cut down the first swordsmen, stabbing him in his stomach. He pulled Falchion out of the man's stomach and then started fighting with the other swordsman.

The mage who was holding his chest in pain, stood back up. His tome snapped open and he aimed his hand at Chrom's back. Blue-green ruins circled his free hand, until a volt of electricity hit the mage's other hand, making him drop the tome. As the runes faded, he turned to see Robin with yellow runes appearing around her own free hand. Another volt of electricity flew, this time hitting the mage in the stomach, causing a scream of pain to erupt from him as he fell over, bleeding out on the ground. She quickly ran and picked up the green tome, wanting to keep the book clean seeing that there were still a few pages left in the book.

A cry rang out from behind Robin. She turned to see that Chrom had taken out the swordsman he was fighting. They turned, looked at each other and nodded, then ran to where Frederick was fighting. The two axmen were already on the ground bleeding out profusely. The great knight had taken them out easily. The leader on the other hand was being a bit stubborn.

"I'll kill you; you hear me?!" the leader yelled, swinging his axe at Frederick's mare.

The axe missed the mare as it jumped away from the leader. It then charged at the leader, Frederick aiming his lance at the leader's gut. The leader jumped out of the way with surprising speed and then pulled out the smaller axe and threw it at the mare, hoping to kill her so it would drop the knight. A blue-green whirlwind blew the axe back to its owner, nicking him on his shoulder as it flew past his head. He looked to his side to see blue-green runes fading from Robin's hand. He gave her a glare that nearly made her take a step back.

Frederick took the opportunity to close in on the leader again, reeling his hand back, ready to plunge the lance deep into the leader's gut. The lance hit its mark, burying itself deep into its target. The lance was halfway covered in the leader's blood, only ending where the leader's body sat. Frederick pushed the body off the lance and shook it, removing some of the liquid from his weapon.

* * *

The three went around the town and looked for any stragglers, informing them that their leader was dead had three choices: Surrender, run, or die. Most of them ran, but a few of them decided to fight back. That did not well, especially the ones that tried to attack Frederick first.

Lissa, who had been helping heal those who were wounded, demanded to know what happened and when Robin showed up. "Wow, Robin!" Lissa gushed after Chrom had informed her of what happened during the battle. "You were incredible!"

Robin covered her face with her coat to hide her blush. "I didn't do that much…" she responded sheepishly.

"Well, you're certainly no helpless victim, that much is for sure," Chrom deduced. "Honestly, the Shepherds could use someone like you."

Lissa nodded in agreement. Robin looked at the two in shock and confusion. Sure, she helped in the battle, but was that really enough to earn their trust? She would think that they would at least be a bit more cautious like Frederick. She WAS happy that they thought she was good enough to be a part of their army…but.

"I-I don't know, Chrom," Robin said, looking at her feet. "I mean, I'm a complete stranger who says that she has no memory. Surely that must give you some pause, r-right?"

Chrom gave her a warm smile and placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. "Robin, you fought to save Ylissean lives," he said. "My heart says that's enough. Of course, its your choice still. If not, we'll see if we can do something about your living situation."

Robin couldn't believe what she was hearing, yet it sounded completely in character for someone like Chrom. "T-then," Robin started with a nervous stutter, "I would be honored to join the Shepherds."

Chrom gave her a confident nod, while Lissa wrapped her in a hug. All the while, Frederick gave a small smile and shook his head. He knew them too well. The only thing he could do now is keep a close eye on the amnesiac girl. He then turned serious. "Did you notice, milord?" Frederick asked. "The brigands spoke with a Plegian accent."

That word again. "Plegian?" Robin repeated, "What's that?"

Frederick gave her an incredulous stare. "Plegia," Chrom began with a sigh, "is Ylisse's westerly neighbor. They send small bands into our territory, hoping to instigate a war."

"And it's the poor townsfolk who suffer," Lissa added.

Robin looked down at the mark on the back of her right hand. The mark that was starting back at her. Frederick had mentioned that it was Plegian. "And you believe that I could be one of them."

"It's nothing against you personally," Frederick started. He then gestured to the now damaged town. "But you see what damage they can cause."

Robin nodded. "Your skepticism is justifiable."

Thinking from Frederick's point of view, she knew how suspicious her story sounded. In fact, they had no reason to trust her, with her wearing foreign garb and a mark indicating that she was part of the country that was threatening Ylisse currently. "None of this has any meaning to me," Robin said, looking back up. "I promise you."

Frederick's gaze softened and he gave a small nod. It was going to take a lot of work to earn his trust.

The four then went to help the town rebuild. Robin was helping the best she could, but she kept being bothered by her own thoughts. Specifically, it was about the Shepherds. Yes, she had agreed to become one of them, but part of it was because she didn't want to be alone in an unfamiliar land. The other part was out of thanks from the siblings' trust, even though she thought that they were a bit too trusting. What if she had been an enemy like Frederick said and they were walking into a trap? Even if they didn't die, they surely would've been wounded to the point that they couldn't afford to save the town from being plundered and burned to the ground.

Her gaze wondered over to Chrom and Lissa who were taking a break. They were chatting to a couple of the villagers, probably trying to raise their morale. She had brought up a question with Chrom earlier.

"Do you really think the Shepherds would be okay with someone like me?" she had asked, gripping her arm and shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I mean… I'm apparently a Plegian; one of the people who is trying to throw your country into chaos. Won't there be a few that would be… you know… put off by the fact that a possible enemy is now part of your group?"

Chrom had bitten his lip and looked away before giving his answer. "You're right, Robin," Chrom had responded. "There are going to be a few won't agree with you being a part of the Shepherds. However, I want peace between our countries and if this is what it takes, then I'm glad to be the one to take that step forward."

The words Chrom had said to her were bouncing around in her mind. There was something that made her smile about being part of that step toward peace. She still had some reservations about joining the Shepherds, but she might as well see what fate had in store for her. If everything goes well, she could get her memories back AND help achieve peace between the warring countries. She was actually feeling a bit optimistic now; something that was noticed by Chrom and Lissa, who just smiled at her from afar.

* * *

AN: Okay, that was a pretty long chapter. I usually don't write this much, but I felt the need to do so. I'm not sure how well I did with this fight scene and I felt like I rushed the end of the chapter a bit. I still feel proud that I was able to write this much.

So I'm going to quickly go over a few things that I did in this story. First, making Robin's origins be questioned a bit more. In the cutscene in the prologue, she had a Grimleal symbol on her hand, not to mention part of the symbol on her coat. You cannot tell me that it doesn't seem sketchy. The fact that she's Plegian is obvious and its just kinda skipped over until later on in the game. So I made them question it. Second, Robin will have a bit of a favoritism towards magic at the start… honestly this is due to the fact that I nearly got her killed in the beginning by using the sword because I'm stupid. So she's going to be using Tomes for a bit longer. Third, Robin's personality. FemRobin (in my opinion) is shown to be a bubbly, goofy, and confident. Those traits will appear later, but it makes more sense for her to be confused and scared at the beginning.

That's really it. I do not know when the next chapter is going to be out, because I'm going to have to think a bit harder for the next chapter and that's a bit hard since I've had to go back to work now. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know if I screwed up something or if I can make it better. I will come back to these and edit them. Later all!


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